The Word of the Now: Determination

de·ter·mi·na·tion

noun \di-ˌtər-mə-ˈnā-shən\ : a quality that makes you continue trying to do or achieve something that is difficult

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I was driving home from the gym the other day.  It was around 5:45am (yes, I work out in the very early a.m. - don't judge me - all the hottest senior citizens work out in the a.m.).  My route home takes me by our town park.  As I drove by I saw an empty wheelchair placed beside a station wagon.  Before I had a chance to be confused I noticed, farther up the parking lot, a man slowly, steadily rolling in his race wheelchair.  He woke, like the rest of us morning junkies, to get his training in.

Strike that.  Not like us.  Not at all.

As I drove away I started thinking about what he did: He woke and got in his wheelchair to roll to his car, to get out of his wheelchair, get into his car and pull his wheelchair into his car before driving to the park to pull his wheelchair out of his car and get into it to roll himself to the back of his car and pull his race wheelchair out, get out of his regular wheelchair and get into his race wheelchair to train.  All that, just to train.  He has to then do everything in reverse to get home and start the rest of his day.  All of that every time he needs to get his time in to be better than the day before.  Every time to maintain his fitness.  Every time to not be stuck motionless in a chair his whole life.

I'm sure when he woke that morning to go about his normal routine he never meant to be inspirational.  He only wanted to get his training in.  Often times it is the actions of ordinary people that strike us as extraordinary.  It was his determination that struck me, with all he had to do, all we take for granted, to get where he wanted to be.  It also got me thinking that determination isn't about how far you can go but, after a setback or after you've fallen, how much farther you're willing to go.

That's determination.

So how determined are you?  How determined are you to break your daily cycle of sitting at breakfast, sitting in your car, sitting at your desk, sitting at lunch, sitting in your car again, sitting at dinner, sitting, sitting, sitting, instead of moving, shakin', and creating the version of you that you want?

Does your bag of excuses weigh more than a wheelchair? 

How determined are you to get where you want to be?

Feeling decidedly determined,

Illustrious